By David Louis Quick

In Korean news recently, I see some rather shocking statements being made to the effect that current and prospective native English teachers must prepare to ``bear the burden'' of E-2 visa regulation changes.

The simple fact of the matter is that most E-2s holders will not do that. They will choose instead to leave Korea and never look back. The vast majority of teachers have no problems with the rules. The problem is in how the rules are being implemented.

The basic assumptions being made by the Ministry of Justice display a staggering lack of cultural sensitivity. It is apparent to any native English teacher that no attempt is being made by the ministry to understand our situation or that of our home country.

As an American English teacher in Seoul, I am using this letter in an attempt to explain our situation to the Korean people.

E-2 visa holders will now be required to receive and renew their E-2 visa in their home country. This is not so much of a problem for teachers coming to Korea for the first time. For those of us already in Korea, this is a roughly $2,000 airplane ticket that either we, or our academy will have to pay for.

A criminal records check in the United States of America is only effective if it is conducted at national level. The only way to be truly sure that the criminal check is conducted nationally is to have it done by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The FBI requires a minimum of four months to conduct a criminal records check.

According to one teacher who called the FBI personally, they are currently backlogged with requests, and any new criminal records checks could take up to seven months to complete.

Any teacher having to return to America to be in compliance with the new visa regulations would have to wait up to seven months. Criminal records checks are the responsibility of the government or the company, not the employee.

America has no national health care system. Usually our health insurance is provided by the company. Since we are not working in America, we would have to pay the cost as an uninsured person.

American hospital fees are already notorious around the world, and the cost for uninsured people is even higher than usual. The cost for whatever checks are finally decided upon by the Ministry of Justice could range from hundreds to thousands of dollars.

Prospective teachers are now required to conduct an interview at a Korean consulate near their hometown. For many of us, there is no Korean consulate near our hometown.

If you check the Web site for Korean embassies in America, there is no announcement about the E-2 visa changes or interview scheduling. I have to wonder how well prepared the consulates abroad are to handle conducting interviews with every prospective English teacher.

I have already consulted with the American Embassy in Seoul and been told that they can provide no assistance with criminal records checks that they have no information regarding the new E-2 visa rules.

Almost all teachers have no problem with the decision of the Korean government to insist on these checks to protect their children. It is their responsibility to make the teaching environment for Korean children as safe as possible.

The problem is with the sloppy implementation on the part of the Ministry of Justice. The disturbing lack of information available about a regulation which will take effect next month may result in it simply not being possible for teachers who have to renew in the early months of 2008 to be in compliance with the new rules.

These procedures will result in a dramatic shortage of qualified English teachers in Korea and a correspondingly dramatic increase in the tuition for English classes.

Prospective and current teachers will simply choose to teach in Japan, China, or other countries which do not require such an extraordinary burden to be borne by the employee alone.

David Louis Quick is a native English tutor working in Seoul. He can be reached at david.l.quick@gmail.com.